top-dress

Return anything too chunky to the bin, and top-dress your plants indoors or out with the good stuff.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023

I am in the dairy business and will have by winter enough manure to top-dress the field.

From One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered by Edward J. (Edward James) Wickson

It is a great nuisance for a public man who is liable to come home late at night to have to top-dress his head before he can retire.

From A Guest at the Ludlow and Other Stories by Edgar Wilson

They must plow, and sow, and top-dress, and bottom-dress, and deep-drain, and surface-drain, and all the rest of it.

From No Name by Wilkie Collins

If the soil is heavy, top-dress with grit in the fall.

From Making A Rock Garden by H. S. (Henry Sherman) Adams

We've top-dressed both several times, so balls should roll onto the greens.

From Golf Digest ● Aug. 2, 2012

Before winter sets in see that the lawn is freely top-dressed.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 7 "Horticulture" to "Hudson Bay" by Various

To insure an extra yield of this valuable grain, the soil must be highly manured, deeply ploughed, thorough cultivated and hoed, and top-dressed with lime, house ashes, and plaster.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by P. L. Simmonds

When a piece of land is to be planted in sweet potatoes, it should be top-dressed with some manure, to be dug or ploughed under a week or two before it is to be planted.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by P. L. Simmonds

Trees in pots to be shifted, or top-dressed, as may be necessary.

From In-Door Gardening for Every Week in the Year Showing the Most Successful Treatment for all Plants Cultivated in the Greenhouse, Conservatory, Stove, Pit, Orchid, and Forcing-house by William Keane

I prefer to use compost as a top-dressing mulch since that doubles as a fertilizer and soil-health enhancer, but you could also use a 5-10-5 fertilizer sparingly.

From Salon ● May 18, 2022

This is no mere top-dressing — not a mulch layer, but a deliberate foundation 4 or 5 inches deep into which the garden is planted.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2022

When it’s rotted down and mature, you’ll have a material perfect for use as a potting mix or as a top-dressing for the garden.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2015

Ammonium nitrate fertilizer is also popular for top-dressing pastures at midsummer since it evaporates more slowly than some competitors.

From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2013

It should be clipped in the spring, April or May being the best months, and a top-dressing about the same time will be very beneficial to it.

From Trees and Shrubs for English Gardens by Ernest Thomas Cook